Destiny of the Halfa
by Panhead13
Summary: Sam Manson, a girl interested in the paranormal, goes to work at an organization that specializes on the subject as the assistant of 25-year-old Danny Fenton. But Danny is more than just an expert on half ghosts. There is something very mysterious about him, and Sam is determined to earn his trust and discover what he's hiding. AU. Rating may change.
1. New on the Job

**This started as kind of a "concept drabble", but I really grew to like it and typed up this bit in a couple of days. :3 I plan on continuing it at some point.**

**Since this is a story I started writing the day I came up with it, it's not entirely well plotted out and it may take a while to reach the meat. Plus, the chapters aren't all that long. XD Small project here.**

**Enjoy~**

Sam Manson had gotten into a very unusual subject of study- the paranormal studies. She lived in an unusual house in an unusual neighborhood and had now added to that list an unusual job. On top of all that, Sam was an unusual girl. She had always been that way, ever since she was born. Now, twenty-three years into her life, she hadn't changed into a normal person yet.

She had always had an interest in the supernatural. She knew a lot about ghosts, and was a self-proclaimed "expert" in the field. No job she had ever had had piqued her interest for very long (she had gotten fired from her last job because she disagreed with the manager), and now, to her excitement, she had gotten a new one. And this one had caught her interest.

Sam was going off to work at a base that studied paranormal entities. It was like a dream come true. She was going to be working with real paranormal experts!

The woman arrived at this base to find a man there waiting for her. He had graying hair and pale blue eyes. He wore a black suit of some sort, with a loose white dress shirt underneath. He greeted her with a smile. "My name's Cal. I'm going to be your new supervisor, Miss Manson."

Sam gave him a bit of an awkward smile, silently making a note of his slight southern drawl.

"I hear you're a self-proclaimed paranormal expert. Tell me what you know," Cal continued, typing in a passcode for the entrance to the base.

"Well, I know that ghosts are like imprints of a person's soul," she began as they entered. "They're created by violent deaths or deaths died in extreme fear, or in intense anger. That's why there are so many angry ghosts."

"Very good research," said Cal.

"The ghosts are made of ectoplasm and a mental imprint. Not really the deceased's soul, but more of a copy derived from his final thoughts before death," Sam continued. "Kind of like the image left on the retna after seeing something lit. After a while, the image starts to invert in color, which is why ghosts tend to have such a strange color scheme. They're inverted images of the original."

"You seem to know what you're talking about," said Cal. "I don't think we were mistaken to bring you here." He typed another passcode and entered through the sliding doors into a large, complicated complex that resembled a mix of a laboratory and a bunch of offices. There were some other rooms mixed in with it all, with windows and doors to peer right into some special offices.

"Wow," said Sam. "So, where am I going to be?"

Cal motioned for Sam to follow him, then walked off. Sam was right behind him, looking left and right at all the workers, who would sometimes glance up to take a look at their newest addition. The two approached the only room with a closed door, marked "Paranormal Phenomena". They stopped in front of the glass window, which appeared to be soundproof. Cal motioned to the man inside.

"Miss Manson, this is Daniel Fenton." Sam looked over at the young man hunched over the unfinished device. His raven-black hair was messy and hanging in his face. He had a screwdriver in his mouth and a keen look of concentration in his eyes amplified by the dark-rimmed glasses perched upon his nose. "You're going to be his new assistant."

"OK," Sam said reluctantly. "But, um... what does he do?"

"He's an expert on entities that are half ghost, half living thing. 'Halfas', he calls 'em. Only 25 years old, but knows more than all of the world's leading paranormal experts on the subject _combined_. Spends most of his time researching, or working on weapons or solutions."

Sam shot another look at Daniel. The man removed the screwdriver from his mouth and began to twist something into place on his work. "Is he alone most of the time?"

"_All_ the time." Cal chuckled dryly. "Says he doesn't need anybody. We beg to differ. He just doesn't _want_ anybody with him."

Sam nodded. "I see. So you got me to keep him company when he doesn't want it."

"Exactly, ma'am." The man opened the door to Daniel's workspace and motioned Sam inside. The woman entered. Daniel seemed unaware of her presence, much less the fact that his door had been opened. "Mr. Fenton, this is Samantha Manson."

Daniel grunted. "Cal, I didn't ask to meet with anybody," he said without turning around. "I'm busy. Aquaint me at another time."

"But she's here to _help_ you with business," Cal countered.

"I don't _need_ help. Tell Boss that this girl can get a job with some other guy. I work alone."

_Whoah, harsh,_ Sam thought.

"Afraid of getting too close, Fenton?" asked Cal. "I know your type."

"No, you really don't," Sam heard Daniel mutter under his breath. She wasn't sure Cal heard him.

"She's staying. That's final." With that, the supervisor left the room, leaving Sam alone with Daniel.

Sam stood there for a while, wondering when the man would notice her presence. Finally, after a long while, Sam decided to speak. "So, um... is there anything I can do?"

Daniel turned around for the first time, looking a little surprised. "Oh, I... didn't know you were still here. I guess Cal left you here." He sighed. "So, you're doomed to be my assistant, right?"

"Right," Sam answered.

"I told Cal a _long_ time ago that I don't need an assistant, but am I listened to? No..." His voice trailed off. "Anyway, sorry about the mess. I don't usually have people in here." Daniel shoved a box of gadgets out of the way with his foot, then brushed a pile of candy wrappers off of his desk and into a trash can. "What help can you be? I work alone," he said, exasperation clear in his tone.

"I could just keep you company," said Sam.

Daniel scoffed. "_Then_ you're just dead weight. An assistant _helps._ Cal _had_ to have brought you here because he thinks you can help me out somehow." He sat back in his chair and began tinkering with his tie.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "You're wearing a leather jacket, a t-shirt, and a _necktie_," she said somewhat randomly.

"So? It looks cool," said Daniel. "Insulting my fashion sense is _not_ helping, miss... Manson, was it?"

"Call me Sam," said Sam. "Assistants should call each other on a first-name basis."

"Well in that case, call me Danny. _Not_ Daniel, not Fenton. Leave that to my supervisors and the Boss." He spun around in his chair. "Enough small chat, I've got to get back to work on this thing." Danny picked up a tool and began working on the device again.

Sam pulled up a chair and sat down next to Danny, deciding to satisfy herself by watching him work. His hands seemed a bit oversized due to his slender wrists. They were calloused from all the working he did, from the looks of them. And his eyes somehow looked older, perhaps from being alone so much. There was nothing youthful about his eyes.

"What _is_ that thing?" asked Sam.

Danny sighed. "It's a weapon. That's all you need to know."

Sam continued to watch him in silence, seeing how masterfully he worked on the weapon. He had the skill of someone three times his age, as if he had been doing such a thing for his entire life. Finally, with a twist of his screwdriver, Danny grunted and set the tool down. "Enough of that one," he said. "That's the end of your first day now. I'm about to go home, so you'd better get going, too."

Sam blinked and looked at the clock. She realized she had been watching Danny work for about two hours. "Oh. Guess I should," she said, standing up.

Danny cleared off his desk and put everything in some drawers, then brushed off his hands. He gave Sam a quick yet sharp glare. "Well, go on. Go home."

Sam nodded, slightly irritated at the man's brusqueness. But she understood where he got it from. He was alone most of the time; he didn't really seem to know exactly how to act around other people. So she left the office and left Danny alone.

_That man is a mystery,_ she thought, receiving her official passcodes from Cal, who gave her goodbyes. She decided she'd drop by his office especially early the next morning and do something for him, even if he didn't like it.

**That's all I have for chapter 1. XD Bespectacled!Danny... More revealed in each chapter about this new, mysterious Danny. He's not the man you knew from the series... Well, he is, but this is a clear AU. Packed full of a mysterious Danny.**

**Oh, and here's some news on FRONTLINES:**

**Due to this project coming on the scene and other busy stuff along with a lack of motivation to type Frontlines, you may have to wait till NOVEMBER to get the finished story. Then you'll have to wait till January before I post Desecration, cause I have a lack of motiv on that too!**

**Just felt I should say that. I apologize for making you wait.**


	2. Breakfast at the Office

**Anonymous review replies: **

**Guest: Here's the update :D Thanks~**

**AJ: Thanks a lot. :3 And here be the update**

**TooLazyToLogIn: It's not heavily so, but I do consider it slightly DxS. It's more of a "great trusting friendship" relationship here though, rather than a romantic one.**

**Yay chapter 2 :D This one more focuses on Danny than on Sam like chapter 1, so that's where we shall begin our next chapter! Danny's POV, third person.**

**,.~*~.,**

Danny always arrived at work at eight-o'-clock sharp. He never failed to arrive at this time, every day. The meticulous schedule was so ingrained into his head that his body worked off of it. 7:00 AM, wake up. 7:10, shower. 7:20, get dressed and ready to go. 7:30, watch the news. 7:40, leave. 7:55, pick up breakfast. 8:00, arrive at work. Ever since he started working at the base, he had run on this ordered schedule.

Danny entered his office, a bag of fast-food breakfast in one hand and an iced latte in the other. He shut the door with one foot and turned around. His eyes popped wide open. "What are _you_ doing here?" he asked.

Sam was in Danny's chair, slowly spinning herself around. "Thought I'd tidy things up a bit," she said.

Danny grunted and flicked his light on. "Well, no _wonder_ everything looks different," he said, sounding annoyed. "Care to show me where all of my stuff is so I can _work?"_

Sam perched a bobbleheaded black cat figurine on top of Danny's computer monitor and stood up. "I labeled the drawers, too. You should find everything easy," she said.

Danny marched up to his desk and set down his breakfast, pausing to violently knock the cat off his monitor and replace it with his drink. "If you think my _office_ was messy, you should see my _house,_" the young man muttered, sitting down in his chair and digging into the paper bag which held his breakfast.

He pulled out a wrapped sausage-and-cheese biscuit, unwrapped it, and took a bite. While eating that, he removed the rest of his breakfast: another sausage biscuit and a hotcakes meal.

"Don't tell me you eat this every morning," Sam said, a bit disgusted.

"I shake it up sometimes," Danny mumbled. He picked up the other sausage biscuit. "You want any?"

"No thanks, I'm a vegetarian," Sam said. "Plus, grease makes me a bit queasy."

"Never affected me," Danny said, spinning around and turning on his computer. "Unless it's _too_ greasy, like Nasty Burger's pizza. The cheese is like slimy rubber, it's disgusting." He took another bite of the sausage biscuit, then turned on his monitor. "To work we go, Sam. Your name _is_ Sam, right?"

"Yeah," said Sam.

"Just checking my memory," said Danny, polishing off the biscuit. He crumpled the wrapper and tossed it back.

"No wonder I found _five thousand_ of those on the floor," Sam said, crossing her arms.

"You want to assist me?" Danny asked. "Pick it up and throw it away for me."

Sam picked it up all right. And she definitely threw it. It smacked the side of Danny's face. "Agh!" the man exclaimed.

"By 'assist', I don't mean to be your personal cleaning maid," Sam said.

Danny growled softly and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "All right then, smarty-pants," he said. "I'll find you something to do." He unwrapped his second biscuit.

Sam smirked. "Ah!" Danny suddenly spun around to face Sam, the latter of whom was a bit startled. "What do you know about the half-ghosts?" he asked, an excited madness now twinkling in his pale blue eyes.

"I... read about them once," Sam admitted. "Anomalies that almost nobody knows about, and that some consider a scientific impossibility. Apparently, you're the biggest expert on them anyone's ever found." Danny nodded, sipping on his iced latte. Sam continued. "Anyway, I was wondering... how do half-ghosts form?"

"Well," Danny began. He swallowed the bite of biscuit in his mouth. "You know how a ghost is an imprint, right?"

"Yep," said Sam.

"Well, a halfa's not entirely like that. A halfa _is_ created much like a ghost, in a case of extreme fear, anger, or pain, and a large amount of nearby ectoplasm, and usually a strong power source. Basically, the adrenaline produced from the fear or the anger fuses with the ectoplasm and basically rewrites the DNA. Instead of the imprint being created outside the body, the ghost imprints itself _inside_ the new halfa. The victim isn't dead, and he isn't half dead. He's just... half ghost."

Sam must have looked bewildered, for Danny scoffed and said, "I don't see _how_ you don't get that." he ate the rest of his second biscuit and grabbed his hotcakes meal. "Not that I'm surprised or anything. I shouldn't be; you're only..." He cut himself off, as if he was about to say something potentially harmful. He opened the box and began eating.

Sam's brain was beginning to piece together all the information Danny had given her. "So, instead of the imprint being shocked _outward_ to fuse with the ectoplasm, the ectoplasm infuses into the DNA and manifests itself _there."_

Danny paused in his chewing. He swallowed, looking surprised and a bit impressed. "Yeah. Yeah, it _is_ like that," he said. "Couldn't have explained it any simpler myself."

Sam was intelligent, Danny had to give her that. She had a bit of an attitude, but then again, so did he. Yet somehow they seemed to be getting along. He _almost_ liked her. _Don't get too close,_ he reminded himself. _That'll only bring you heartache in the end._

,.~*~.,

A few hours passed. Danny was now silently working on his weapon. Sam was going through some of Danny's folders and organizing them, as Danny had told her to do. She was growing tired with the tedious work, of course, and asked her acquaintance if she could go out for a walk around the rest of the base.

"All right," the young man answered. "Just don't go near the Boss's office."

"Why not?" asked Sam.

"Because... no one's ever allowed to just _see_ the Boss. You can only go there if he calls you. Your closest link to the Boss is Cal. He tells the workers when the Boss wants to see them. Told _me_ a few times." Danny began playing with his necktie- a nervous habit, Sam deduced.

"So you've seen this 'Boss'?" asked Sam.

Danny smirked in a sort of mischievous way. "I never said I actually _went,_" he said. "Who cares about some guy who never leaves his office to speak to his own employees? As far as _we_ know, Cal is the _real_ guy in charge, and the Boss is just a big jerk who does nothing but sound cool with a title."

Sam nodded and left the office, closing the door behind her. She nodded to a uniformed woman passing by, then headed out into the open.

,.~*~.,

With his assistant gone, Danny dropped his tools and allowed his tense muscles to relax. Human company always put him on edge; too many walls needed to be put up. He shielded himself from the world for a good reason, or so he told himself. He never told anyone anything any more than what was necessary for the moment. Always the facts.

The man leaned back in his chair and shut his eyes, basking in the silence. Then he began to think.

For the first time since he had begun working at the base, he grew curious about the Boss. He had taken it in stride at first, but now he wasn't so sure it was all part of the big operation. _What am I thinking?_ he debated with himself. _Of course it's normal for this operation..._

He shook off the thoughts and sat back up, opening his eyes. OK, so maybe it _was_ a little suspicious, he decided. But it was probably nothing. He had been working at the base for five years and nothing had ever gone awry. There was nothing to worry about.

Then again, Danny almost never set foot outside his office during work hours.

,.~*~.,

**That seemed like a decent enough chapter. XD Hope you enjoyed it~**

**P.S., the bit about the rubbery, extra greasy cheese on the pizza... That was inspired by a true story. Most terrible pizza ever. Bleh.**


	3. Lonely Man

**Anonymous review replies:**

**Guest: So you have wished it, so shall it be! XD get it? Eh...**

**Phangirll: Thanks ^^ I've never seen that, so I'll take your word for it. Not planning any serious "romance" (I'm not good in that genre), but there will definitely be a very close friendship between the two as the story progresses.**

**Mistheart150: Ho ho, that's some pretty good motivation there. ^^ I need to drag the manuscript book over to this computer and type... Chapter 8 part 2 is on its way, though! Paused to finish up this chapter.**

**AJ: Thanks ^^ They'll be getting along a bit better in the chapters to come. That piece of pizza was pretty bad... I couldn't even eat half of it, it was so slimy... and a bit cold.**

**So here we are, chapter 3. Muehehe. Still setting up the story here, I don't really want it to move too quickly. I pondered this story quite a bit, and my brain is now practically bursting with ideas! XD Enjoy the update~**

,.~*~.,

Sam had talked to various people all over the base, whether it was a friendly chat or a conversation about ghosts and technology used to find them and/or fight them. Needless to say, the unordinary young woman felt right at home.

Getting to know some of the other workers besides Danny was a nice change, seeing as she didn't feel like she knew anything about her coworker at all, despite all the hours she had spent watching him in the office. He didn't talk much, and when he _did_ get to talking about himself, he would stop, as if he was hiding something.

On her way back to Danny's office, Sam ran into her supervisor. "Hey, Miss Manson," Cal greeted, smiling cheerfully.

"Hello, Cal," said Sam, smiling back.

"Have you two been getting along well so far?" Cal asked. "Dan can be a bit abrasive at times."

"Oh, I know that," said Sam. "But I deal with it. And there's something sort of weird about him. I cleaned up his office before he came in this morning and he chewed me out for it, then offered me breakfast the next moment."

"Sounds like him," Cal said with a small sigh. "Strange kid, that one. It's as if he resents human company. I've known him for five years and he hasn't really opened up to me. Doesn't want anyone close to him at all. The most I can guess is that he had a troubled childhood."

"Maybe so," said Sam. "I could ask him about it."

"I wouldn't try it while you're still a new thing for him," Cal warned. "He doesn't seem to trust you quite yet. It'll take him some time to start opening up to you."

"I could see that from the beginning," Sam noted. "I'm still gonna ask him about his life. If he says it's too sensitive to talk about, I'll just leave it and wait."

"Good luck," Cal said with a short bark of a dry laugh. "When I asked him, he got really angry at me."

"Oh, don't worry." Sam smirked. "I'll do it subtly." She headed back off towards Danny's office. She poked her head inside the office to see Danny rummaging through his filing cabinets, muttering something to himself. This didn't surprise Sam, seeing as she had reorganized everything.

Danny must have heard her enter, for he closed the cabinet and slowly turned to look at her, a tight, serious smile on his face and an irritated glint in his eyes. He exhaled through his nostrils. "Where are my snack cakes?" he asked Sam, voice terse.

"I don't know," Sam replied. "What, do you have a stash of them someplace or something?"

"I assumed you _knew_ that already," Danny said. "Ah, well. I usually have one in between breakfast and lunch thereabout. If I can't find them and you don't know about them, then there's probably only one left, or none left." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's one way to throw my schedule off."

"You weren't expecting me to become part of your schedule, were you?" asked Sam, sitting down in Danny's chair.

Danny snorted. "Well, obviously," he said. "And could you possibly _stop_ sitting in my chair every time I get up?"

"Possibly," Sam answered, smirking. "Doesn't mean I'm going to. You need to get used to having someone in your own little world besides yourself."

"I don't want to," Danny said quietly, leaning on his desk.

"I could tell," Sam retorted.

Danny gave his assistant a somewhat dirty look. "Out of my chair," he commanded.

Sam got up and walked over to the filing cabinets, crossing her arms. "Do you ever get bored?" she asked.

"No," said Danny, plunking himself down in his chair. "I work on different things all day, do internet stuff." He pulled himself up to the desk. "Come up with new ways of learning about ghosts."

"Every day?" Sam asked. "I'm no social butterfly either, but... don't you ever get out?"

"Nope."

"Never let anyone into your life?"

"I used to."

"So why not now?" Sam threw her arms out for emphasis. "Is there something that made you stop?"

"You're intruding on personal territory, Manson," Danny said. He turned to Sam, giving her a dark look that practically screamed "don't go there". Sam stared back at him, scarcely blinking. The man sighed, sinking down in his chair. "If you must know, yes. But why I'm this way is none of your business." He turned back around and began to type on his computer.

Sam bit her cheek with concern. Danny was harder to break through than a two-foot thick wall of steel. _Cal was right. He needs time,_ she reminded herself. He was so lonely. He pretended to like it that way, but Sam felt that he honestly wanted somebody to share all his secrets with. He needed someone he could trust.

"Sam."

Sam looked back at Danny when he spoke her name. "Yes?" she asked.

Danny swiveled his chair slightly to look at his co-worker. "Get your own chair," he said.

Sam was sure she saw the faintest hint of a smile cross his face.

,.~*~.,

**Well, that's the end of Chapter 3. Now that I've finished this chapter and it's off my chest, I shall take a little bit of a break from it and finish typing Frontlines... and for New Year's Day you'll all get the prologue of Desecration!**

**Anywho, I will continue on with this! As soon as I decide to, em... no definites on next update? XD Hopefully soon, yes? I should... um... think about finishing Double Danny... :l**


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